Music performance anxiety: Exploring structural relations with self-efficacy, boost, and self-rated performance

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 831-847 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio González ◽  
Patricia Blanco-Piñeiro ◽  
M. Pino Díaz-Pereira

The first aim of this study was to analyse performance self-efficacy as a predictor of music performance anxiety (MPA), and performance boost and self-rated performance as their outcomes in a sample of students and professionals (teachers and performers). This work also tries to ascertain the similarities and differences between genders and professional status by means of bivariate correlations, MANOVA, and structural equation model (SEM) analyses. A sample of 270 Spanish musicians participated in the study. With regard to the similarities, MPA was negatively predicted by self-efficacy and was a negative predictor of boost; the total effect of MPA on performance was negative and significant. Self-efficacy was a positive predictor of boost and performance. On the contrary, the predictive power of boost over performance was not significant. MPA mediated the effects of self-efficacy on boost; analogously, self-efficacy and boost mediated the influence of efficacy on performance. All of these relationships were equivalent for the four groups of females, males, students, and professionals. As for the main differences, the study showed that performers obtained the highest values in self-efficacy, boost, and performance; students surpassed teachers and performers in MPA; and females were the most anxious subsample. We discuss these findings, acknowledging their limitations and highlighting their implications.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel Rodríguez-Carvajal ◽  
Oscar Lecuona ◽  
Luz-Sofía Vilte ◽  
Jennifer Moreno-Jiménez ◽  
Sara de Rivas

Music performing usually binds intense psychological experiences, from which music performance anxiety (MPA) is amongst the most damaging and pervasive ones. Alongside, some constructs seem to be associated with MPA, like negative affect and self-consciousness. In the interaction between these three elements, mindfulness seems to be an effective tool to cope with MPA by altering the relationships between it and self-consciousness or negative affect. In this study, a structural model is proposed following a cross-sectional design with a total of 151 spanish-speaking music performers. Results from a structural equation model seems to support the proposed model, making dispositional mindfulness an effective mechanism to alter the way MPA interacts with self-consciousness and negative affect. More specifically, dispositional mindfulness seems to inversely mediate the relationship between negative affect and MPA, while also inversely moderating the relationship between self-consciousness and MPA. In other words, dispositional mindfulness seems to prevent how self-conscious music performers can be or how negative is their mood into developing career-damaging MPA phenomena. Limitation of these findings are discussed, alongside future lines of work to improve the likelihood of this conclusions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amélie J. A. A. Guyon ◽  
Regina K. Studer ◽  
Horst Hildebrandt ◽  
Antje Horsch ◽  
Urs M. Nater ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 868-885 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim E. Robson ◽  
Dianna T. Kenny

This study assessed music performance anxiety (MPA) in ensemble rehearsals and concerts in 278 undergraduate non-music and music majors drawn from 10 Mid-Atlantic institutions in the US to examine the prevalence and experience of MPA in non-music major undergraduates and to determine whether MPA severity differed between non-music majors and music majors. Results for undergraduate non-music majors using the Kenny Music Performance Anxiety Inventory Revised (K-MPAI-r, Kenny, 2009) revealed cognitive, somatic, affective, and behavioral symptoms. Depression, being an instrumentalist, female, and having had a music performance breakdown made significant contributions to K-MPAI-r scores; depression made the strongest unique contribution to prediction of severity of MPA. Greater self-efficacy was correlated with lower MPA for both rehearsals and concert performances. Overall, MPA and depression indicator scores for the sample were higher than other groups that have been previously evaluated with the K-MPAI-r and the same depression screen. Although ensemble rehearsals were confirmed to be less anxiety provoking than performing solo and in ensemble concerts, students reported considerable MPA during both ensemble rehearsing and ensemble performing. The relatively high rates of MPA and indications of depression in the whole sample should merit concern for music educators.


2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianna T. Kenny ◽  
Naomi Halls

This study presents the development, administration and evaluation of two brief group interventions for music performance anxiety (MPA) aimed at reducing anxiety and improving performance quality. A cognitive behavioural therapy intervention was developed based on an existing empirically-supported treatment Chilled (Rapee et al., 2006), focusing on cognitive, physiological and behavioural symptoms. The second treatment, anxiety sensitivity reduction, targeted primarily physiological symptoms and included relaxation strategies. Interventions were administered in a workshop format over one day with four intervention sessions, preceded by a pedagogic practice skills session that functioned as a control/placebo intervention. A quasi-experimental group randomization design compared the interventions in a heterogeneous sample of community musicians. Sixty-eight participants completed measures of trait anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, depression, and MPA. Participants performed four times (pre- and post-placebo, post-treatment and follow-up) and were assessed for state anxiety and performance quality at each performance. Results indicated that both interventions offered moderately significant gains for the musicians: anxiety was reduced and performance quality improved after each intervention and changes were maintained at follow-up. Anxiety sensitivity reduction showed a trend to exceed the CBT-based interventions, but a larger, higher-powered study is needed to confirm this advantage.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Spahn ◽  
Franziska Krampe ◽  
Manfred Nusseck

Most studies exploring the relation between flow and Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) have focused on the disposition of generally experiencing flow and the occurrence of MPA. Little is known about the connection between experiencing flow and MPA as it relates to a specific performance. In this study, flow and MPA have been investigated in 363 orchestral musicians in relation to a particular live music performance. The musicians were asked to fill out a questionnaire immediately after a concert. Flow experience during the performance was measured using the Flow Short Scale. The Performance-specific Questionnaire on MPA (PQM) was used for MPA. The PQM addresses particular aspects of MPA and refers retrospectively to the time before and during the performance as well as to the moment of filling out the questionnaire after the performance. Using three scales, the functional coping, the perceived symptoms of MPA and self-efficacy were determined for each time point of the performance. The results showed that experiencing flow was on average higher among orchestral musicians compared to a sample of the general population. However, there were differences between the professional and non-professional musicians. All PQM scales showed significant correlations with the global flow scale. Regression analysis on the global flow score found that regarding the time before the performance the PQM scale symptoms of MPA were diametrically connected with the flow experience. The PQM scale functional coping was shown to be positively related to the flow during the performance. Moreover, high self-efficacy was found to be closely related with stronger flow experience. Furthermore, flow seems to have positive effects on functionally coping with MPA and the self-efficacy after the performance. These findings confirm the negative relationship between flow and symptoms of MPA, offering further approaches in understanding the relationship especially for live music performances.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariadna O Brugués

Music performance anxiety (MPA) affects many individuals regardless of age, gender, experience, and hours of practice. In order to better understand the epidemiology of MPA, a review of the literature was done. Sixteen articles, meeting EBM criteria, were identified and analyzed. Children rarely suffer from MPA, while adolescents show symptoms similar to adults. Females are generally more affected than males. There is no relation between professional experience and performance anxiety. Great musicians such as Pau Casals and Enrico Caruso suffered from MPA. Nevertheless, students affected by MPA may decide not to become professional musicians because of their inability to cope with the devastating effects of performance anxiety. Solo performances showed higher MPA scores than ensemble performances. Despite these conclusions, long-term cohort studies with larger, homogeneous groups of subjects would be desirable, according to the evidence-based medicine criteria.


2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 570-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santos Orejudo ◽  
Francisco Javier Zarza-Alzugaray ◽  
Oscar Casanova ◽  
César Rodríguez-Ledo ◽  
Beatriz Mazas

Music performance anxiety (MPA) is a phenomenon often encountered among professionals and students who make public appearances. This article presents the results of a study carried out on a sample of music students in superior music conservatories in Spain ( N = 434). Our goal was to analyze MPA on the basis of Barlow’s (2000) anxiety theory, supplementing it with further personality constructs such as dispositional optimism, general auto-efficacy, and sensitivity to reward and punishment. Our structural equation modeling (SEM) results reveal that several of those constructs exert their effect via the helplessness factor – the central construct in Barlow’s theory – and that they likewise exert a further series of direct effects on MPA. All in all, the variables taken into consideration account for 45.6% of variance in MPA in males and of 52.1% thereof in females. This study thus upholds Barlow’s theory of anxiety, while broadening it with further explanatory mechanisms.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 33-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raluca Matei ◽  
Jane Ginsborg

When pursued professionally, the demands of musical training and performance can interfere with musicians' well-being and health. Music performance anxiety, while energising at optimal levels, impairs performance quality when excessive. A range of interventions has been explored to address it. However, the poor methodological quality of such studies and the complexity of this issue should mobilise further research resources in this direction.


2003 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 126-130
Author(s):  
Joanne C Chang ◽  
Elizabeth Midlarsky ◽  
Peter Lin

This study investigated the effect of meditation on music performance anxiety. Participants were 19 students between the ages of 18 and 41 yrs, who were recruited from the Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College of Music, Yale University School of Music, and State University of New York at Purchase. The experimental group received a series of eight meditation classes, and the control group received no meditation training. After the 8-week training period, all performed in a concert. Pretests and post-tests of music performance anxiety were given and post-tests of state anxiety and of performance concentration. Performance anxiety decreased among participants in the meditation group, in contrast to participants in the control group, whose performance anxiety did not decrease. Differences in regard to post-test state anxiety and performance concentration were not significant. An additional benefit of meditation was a reported increase in relaxation pleasure even in the period immediately before the performance. Results indicate that meditation may be a useful tool for aiding performers to combat performance anxiety.


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